The present invention relates to fishing reels and the manner in which they are mounted on fishing rods, and in particular to a spinning reel with an improved mount.
Heretofore, fishing reels included the old casting reel with it's spool perpendicular to the rod and a mount which positioned the reel in juxtaposition on the rod in front of the hand, the fly fishing reel with it's perpendicular spool mounted on the rear of the handle, and the spinning reel with it's parallel spool and a mount which positioned the reel on the handle at a comfortable distance to allow a fisherman's hand to be positioned around the handle and in-between the reel and the handle. Each of the reel mounts, used in association with it's particular reel presents handling problems, The casting reel requires two hands to operate the reel, one to hold the rod and the other to touch the fishing line in order to detect a bite. Whereas, the fly fishing reel frees one hand for both holding the rod and touching the fishing line and it allows the other hand to pay out the line or wind it in. The fly fishing reel and the casting reel are limited by their perpendicular spools which do not control the line nearly as well as the spinning reel.
The spinning reel, while it is the reel of choice by most fishermen, has a positioning problem. When the reel is mounted on a rod, the T-shaped support is right where the user's hand should be, thereby forcing the user to accomodate the support between one or more fingers. This may not be a problem for all fishermen, but for those with small hands or those who wear rings, the support presents a problem. The only prior art patent that remotely addresses the problem, is U.S. Pat. No. 2,648,505 which shows a finger grip in front of the support. However, even the grip in 2,648,505 requires positioning the user's hand with fingers in front and behind the support.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,108,392, shows the T-shaped support employed with prior art spinning reels, with the exception that the support adjusts to narrow or lengthen the distance from the rod to the reel.
The present invention overcomes the problems with the prior art, providing an improved support that allows unhampered holding of the rod and touching the line with the same hand.